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Words Fail Me

By Frances McKendrick
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Brief Description
A therapist’s job is to listen, not to get involved. Unless… ‘A dark and startling tale of righteous vengeance’ VAL McDERMID ‘Complex, timely and full of compassion’ IAN RANKIN When Jane – smart, funny, fortyish – says she’s a school counsellor, people assume it’s all about... Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
$2799

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Told through the eyes of a school counsellor, Words Fail Me is a gripping page-turner with a compelling mystery at its core and a hair-raising climax, while offering an eye-opening insight into the burdens borne by today’s adolescents

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

A therapist’s job is to listen, not to get involved. Unless…

‘A dark and startling tale of righteous vengeance’ VAL McDERMID

‘Complex, timely and full of compassion’ IAN RANKIN

When Jane – smart, funny, fortyish – says she’s a school counsellor, people assume it’s all about exam stress. If only.

Her teenage clients include Vaishali, who hates the perfect curves that draw the attention of adult men; Fraser, who cares devotedly for his mother but hurts his girlfriend by confusing real life with porn; and George, a trans boy who suffers from acute anxiety.

Harbouring terrible secrets from her own youth, Jane struggles to contain the anger these stories arouse in her. It’s only when she starts counselling her colleague Kass, a survivor of childhood sexual abuse whose trauma is resurfacing, that her thoughts turn to revenge…

Moving, entertaining and revelatory, Words Fail Me is a gripping page-turner, with a compelling mystery at its core and a hair-raising climax, which also shines a revealing light on contemporary adolescent agonies.

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781785634178

Publisher: Eye Books

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 10 April 2025

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Lightning

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 22.0mm

Width: 129.0mm

Height: 198.0mm

Weight: 285g

Pages: 352

Collections

Fiction Frances McKendrick General Fiction Literary Fiction

About the Author

Frances McKendrick is a psychotherapist and writer living in Edinburgh with her husband and two children.
She won the Isobel Lodge Award for her short fiction, which has also been shortlisted for the Bath Short Story Award and the Alpine Fellowship Writing Prize. Words Fail Me is her first novel.

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